When the family that owns a Sandy Springs vegan restaurant got the news that Dad had terminal lung cancer, the cooks became the managers.
Richard Turnbull said he didn’t fully appreciate his father’s work managing the Loving Hut on Hammond Drive until the job became his.
“All I did was cook and I did that fantastically,” Richard Turnbull said. “My brother and I worked the line and my dad kept us on our toes.”
His father, 64-year-old Robert Turnbull, was given only months to live by doctors in January.
“So far, he’s doing all right,” Richard said.
Robert’s health is improved by his healthy, vegan lifestyle, but decades of smoking cigarettes — up until the lung cancer diagnosis — took its toll.
“Vegan doesn’t mean you’re invincible. If you still smoke, there will be consequences,” Richard said.
Robert turned vegetarian in his early 30s, after seeing how meat dishes were prepared in Asian and South American countries.
“After being exposed to heads being cut off chickens, he just couldn’t do it,” Richard said of his father.
Dad went from being a 5-star chef who’d cooked for a queen and won competitions to living a healthier lifestyle, Richard said.
Richard and his brother, Jake, grew up vegetarian, too, but in 2007 they made the switch to a fully vegan diet, giving up all food made from animals or their byproducts, such as dairy.
The three men opened Loving Hut in 2013.
“I opened the vegan restaurant with my dad and brother because vegan is about tolerance and doing no harm,” Richard said. “We thought we could veganize a lot of meat dishes people like such as shepherd’s pie.”
Now, the 26-year-old runs the place and his 19-year-old brother cooks.
The family scrambled to both take care of Robert and run the Loving Hut. Both sons put off their education while their mother, who worked as a nurse, quit to help around the restaurant.
They learned a hard lesson when health inspectors failed them with a score of 64 earlier this month.
When Cris Comer of Marietta saw the unsatisfactory score in a closed Facebook group for local vegan eaters, she said she was shocked and the close-knit community was concerned.
“I felt really bad, but we didn’t know Richard personally when we heard about the review,” Comer said.
Richard found the post and responded, saying he is the owner and manager, his dad is going through chemotherapy and he’s doing the best he can — so give him a break. Richard admitted he’d forgotten to take care of things around the restaurant while trying to find enough time to take his father to chemo appointments between shifts.
Instead of firing back, the group stepped up, offering to help clean and do what it takes to raise the score.
“The standards are strict for a reason and I respect that, but most of the problems were hardware problems,” Richard said. “The food part wasn’t a problem.”
The team earned a 99 on the latest health inspection posted Monday.
“I didn’t know points could be taken off for not having enough light and things like that, but everything is fixed now,” Richard said. “It’s top notch.”
Comer said she plans to return to Loving Hut this week.
“I’m happy to help Richard and am proud to support Loving Hut Sandy Springs,” she said.
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